The project known as the “Serbian world” is a real danger that must be discussed openly, but it is also a project with no future in contemporary Europe, based on civic values, the rule of law and respect for diversity, this was the central message of the Civic Corner programme on TVE, hosted by the Centre for Civic Education (CCE). On the concept of the “Serbian world”, its political, identity-related and security implications for the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as the response of the region and the European Union to these processes, Zvezdana Kovač, Director for Strategy and Communications at CCE, spoke with Šaćir Filandra, Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo; Vanda Babić-Galić, Special Adviser to the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia; Srđa Pavlović, a history professor from Montenegro, and Tomislav Marković, a journalist and writer from Serbia.
“The concept of the “Serbian world” should be viewed as a substitute for a failed expansionist state project.Namely, Serbian nationalist elites throughout the entire 20th century sought to realise the project of a Greater Serbia, but it ultimately failed, because it was unjust and could only be pursued through criminal means”, said Šaćir Filandra.
He explained that, in contemporary circumstances, when changes to borders are internationally unacceptable, that project has been transformed. „The Serbian world now comes as a cultural and identity-based substitute for that political project and targets populations rather than territories “, he said, stressing that it is an attempt to standardise and homogenise the identity of Serbs in different states across the region. Filandra added that such an approach is problematic also because of historical experience and requires a high degree of caution, as it „may be more dangerous than we are aware”.
“Presenting the ‘Serbian world’ as concern for Serbs outside Serbia is utterly hypocritical. Calling that concept concern for the rights of Serbs would be the same as calling Milošević’s policy in the 1990s humanitarian work“, Vanda Babić-Galić was unequivocal. According to her, it is a project that entails unifying territory solely on an ethnic criterion, on the assumption that borders are not final. “That concept is geopolitically compatible with Russia’s interests and leads to the destabilisation of the Western Balkans and the weakening of the Euro-Atlantic space. And that project harms Serbs in the region the most, because it turns them into hostages of someone else’s policy and a permanent minority of questionable loyalty, instead of equal citizens of the states in which they live,” she stressed.
Srđa Pavlović believes that the “Serbian world” has a specific and particularly harmful effect in Montenegro. “In Montenegro, there is a deep identity duality, which this project further deepens… The Serbian world in Montenegro acts as a fundamental destabiliser of the state, because any nationalist project is troubled by a well-ordered, stable state based on the rule of law and the citizen as the centre of the system,” Pavlović said.
He said that this influence is manifested through demands to redefine laws, insistence on defining constituent peoples, historical revisionism, and the instrumentalisation of culture. „These are not abstract matters, but very concrete political, legal and cultural practices“, he added, also warning of the danger of manipulating history, noting that „if ordinary lies are repeated often enough and make their way into textbooks, you end up with generations that are permanently damaged“.
“The narrative about caring for Serbs is hypocritical, because the authorities in Serbia do not even care about their own citizens“, said Tomislav Marković, pointing to repression, the suppression of freedoms, hate campaigns and the criminalisation of critical thinking in Serbia. „If the authorities treat their own citizens like that, why would they be better towards others?” Marković asked, adding that similar arguments had existed as early as the beginning of the 20th century, which he illustrated with the writings of Dimitrije Tucović following the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Marković also referred to Hannah Arendt, who, he said, wrote that pan-national movements are, as a rule, hostile to the state and institutions. „Their aim is not a well-ordered state, but permanent dominance“, he underscored.
In the conversation, it was assessed that there is no single and consistent regional response to these processes. Filandra stated that reactions are often „inconsistent and driven by narrow national interests“, and that countries outside the EU do not have enough coordination when it comes to the stability of the region. Speaking from Croatia’s perspective, Babić-Galić said that Zagreb actively warns European institutions about the dangers of the policy of the “Serbian world”, because the stability of the region and the European path of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are in Croatia’s interest.
When it comes to the European Union, Pavlović expressed serious concern. “The EU is increasingly ignoring moves that are contrary to its values and supporting political structures that are essentially anti-European. If the goal is for Montenegro to enter the EU as an empty form without substance, then it is completely irrelevant who is in power, Pavlović said, calling into question the sincerity and depth of European engagement.
Responding to a question about the line between legitimate cultural connection and the political instrumentalisation of identity, Filandra said that the key lies in respecting the legislation of the states in which minorities live, and that there is enough room for normal cultural communication without undermining the constitutional order.
Pavlović warned that the “political appropriation of culture is the most dangerous tool of nationalism “, while Marković cited examples of Serbia’s interference in Montenegro’s education programmes, stressing that this denies another state’s right to its own cultural and education policy.
Babić-Galić said that the concepts of the “Serbian world” and the European Union are incompatible. „ You cannot enter the EU while denying the state, the nation, the culture and the symbols “, she said, adding that it is in the region’s interest for Montenegro, with its authentic values, to become part of the European community.
The full programme is available at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dveUGc4JyXo.
The programme is part of the project “Shared Imprints of Diversity”, which is financially supported by the Fund for the Protection and Realisation of Minority Rights of Montenegro. The content of the programme is the sole responsibility of the programme’s interlocutors.
Maja Marinović, Programme Associate